


Keep me entertained

by vtpia



Category: Dishonored (Video Game)
Genre: Fugue Feast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-25
Updated: 2013-08-25
Packaged: 2017-12-24 15:59:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/941830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vtpia/pseuds/vtpia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fugue feast gift. Corvo can think of thousands ways to entertain the Outsider. They try them all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep me entertained

Written as Fugue feast gift for endrae!

The prompt was “Corvo and Outsider doing something unusual together. What it is, you can decide (I’m also fine with shipping, so anything you can come up is fine).”

~~~~~ AU version ~~~~~

“But I am not human.” the Outsider stated for what had to be the fifth time. 

Of course Corvo knew, he had felt it the moment he saw the Outsider for the first time. Maybe it was the way the Outsider seemed to be slightly out of sync with his surroundings, or with time or reality itself. The way he wasn‘t quite moving in the world, but the world seemed to shift and bend around him. The way everything around him seemed to be slurred, like looking at a painting of a room instead of the room itself. Or maybe like looking into a fish tank, the water clear, but still warping and confusing one’s view of the things underwater. And of course, the magical powers he gave Corvo had been another clue

So, all things considered, Corvo knew very well how very much not human the Outsider was, and the Outsider knew that Corvo knew and there really were no surprises there for the two of them and no necessity to even mention it. Still it was what the Outsider liked to do, to remind Corvo of the differences between them, again and again. The infinite distance stretching between a human and a god, how very small and fleeting Corvo‘s existence was in the grander scheme of things, and how very vain his attempts to explain human needs and whims to him were. It was really meant as a request and an encouragement to try anyhow, and once Corvo had grasped the real meaning behind the often spiteful words he resigned himself to showing the Outsider every oddity the human race had invented. He wanted to offer him a taste of what it felt like to be human, to actually feel something at all.

He never succeeded. He didn‘t expect it. Maybe he didn‘t even want it if it meant the end of their shared explorations of the human nature. Even if they didn‘t affect the Outsider they certainly evoked all kind of emotions in Corvo, and after the long years of that terrifying emptiness in him after Jessamine‘s death Corvo craved those feelings, even if he felt them alone because his companion was always so utterly unaffected.

And Corvo had tried. The most stupid things, to be honest. He had taken the Outsider to the cinema to watch all kind of movies. He had taken him to the final match in a football championship to show him the thousands of fans raging with emotions. Taking him to Disneyland proved to be a bad idea („Really, Corvo?“), though watching the deity talking about magical pumpkins to an increasingly desperate Cinderella was priceless. It was also kind of painful, though definitely one of the more thrilling experiences, to sneak into a funeral to show the Outsider desperation and grieve („I can see that most wonderfully laid out in your own heart, Corvo.“). Talking the deity into taking yoga lessons and watching him struggling to grasp the use of the yoga exercises was something Corvo would never tire to remember and it always brought a sheepish smile to his lips. Remembering the bored look on the Outsider‘s face when Corvo had shown him the Grand Canyon was more like a punch in the gut, and Corvo would never try again to impress a being like the Leviathan with natural monuments. Visiting a zoo was informative (The Outsider disliked monkeys a lot), but just as ineffective as making him eat all kinds of human food, smell perfumes or taking him to a Justin Bieber concert (it was the worst Corvo was able to come up with).

What he was trying today would surely prove to be a waste of time, too („And why would humans indulge in this when their lives are so short and filled with insignificance already?“), and maybe the Outsider wasn‘t even able to feel fear anyway (does he even have a nervous system?), but it wasn‘t about succeeding anymore, and hadn‘t been for a long time. These moments, with the Outsider at his side and the whole world laid out for them to play with and the decision about what and where completely up to Corvo were the moments when he felt alive again, and he would treasure every single second.

He checked the bindings again, for the third time, just to delay the moment.

„And since I am not human, this will not work.“ the Outsider carried on as if speaking to a child. It made Corvo grin again, not even struggling to hide it, because who cared anyway? The Outsider gave him the choice and he’d chosen he wanted this, and it would be stupid like always but he wanted this. Even if he would never find out if the Outsider had a nervous system or not. 

Everything was ready and Corvo found he couldn’t delay any further. So he asked the Outsider to stand and the deity did, like he would always do what Corvo asked of him. It was only half a step to the edge of the bungee jumping tower, and Corvo shivered when he looked down, the ground looking miles away. The Outsider didn’t show any signs of fear, but for once the usual expression of boredom was replaced by a look of mild interest, and there was a wicked little smile at the corners of his mouth.

“But an interesting idea it is indeed, my dear…”

Corvo allowed himself to share that smile for a moment, feeling a weird kind of bond between the two of them. It was gone after blinking once. Taking a step forward he pushed…

…but he hadn’t expected the Outsider to reach for him, pressing their bodies together. On their way down, the thought that the Outsider would surely not let him die here didn’t cross his mind, because he was busy finding out that his own nervous system was working quite well.

 

~~~~~ original universe version ~~~~~

“I don’t think there should be quite so much of it.” Corvo objected gently, but didn’t stop the Outsider from applying even more of the cream to his lips. It had a rich red colour and glistened softy, and the Leviathan had claimed it would “go well with his full, lush lips, the bronze tone of his skin and his dark eyes”. Corvo still hadn’t figured out whether the Outsider was mocking him or the statement, presented in the deity’s usual monotony, was actually meant like that, a judgement based on his centuries ob observing humans and their taste in beauty. He should be flattered, but the feeling was more awkward than pleasing.

Putting the red cream aside, the Outsider reached for another brush. Corvo closed his eyes and waited patiently, holding still like he would do whenever Emily wished to braid his hair. He wasn’t dreaming. This wasn’t the Void. It had happened before that the Outsider visited him in the real world, though rarely. And when he did, it was usually with the demand to be entertained in ways that differed quite a lot from their usual routine (which involved little more than Corvo getting himself into dangerous situations). The Leviathan had wanted to play hide and seek (which proves to be extremely difficult if the one you’re searching for can dissolve into shadows and especially if the game is played at the top of Kaldwin’s Bridge), he wanted lessons in humans tastes in clothes or food, music or dances, he had taken Corvo to walk on the ground of the ocean itself, showing him the monsters lurking in the depth and the hidden beauty of plants and fishes, everything alive there. He had once taken down a dam and kept Corvo at his side to watch the raging waters flooding an entire village, drowning humans and animals, the Lord Protector unable to move or speak out of sheer terror. The Outsider had asked Corvo to read poetry to him, to teach him how to bake bread (a messy business since Corvo’s skills certainly didn’t cover kitchen work), and he had let him listen to a conversation between the trees which grew far beyond the borders of the capitol.

If Corvo had learned one thing it was that he could never guess what the next request would be and expecting the unexpected was more a phrase than actual help. He had resigned himself to be the primary source of entertainment for the Outsider, he was special to the deity somehow, though he didn’t know why or how, but it had been made very clear that none of the other persons wearing the Outsider’s mark had been granted this much contact. It was an honor as well as a challenge.

So, being woken in the middle of the night and asked to assist the Leviathan in “experimenting with humans methods to hide imperfections and signs of age” ranged pretty low on Corvo’s scale for odd requests. Though he had to admit that he hadn’t expected to be the center of said experiments, sitting comfortably in a chair by the fireplace while the Outsider applied layer after layer of makeup to his face. He was rather sure he didn’t want to see the finished result, it felt like too much, too thick, and he certainly didn’t trust the Outsider’s skills to choose colours fitting to his face (he wouldn’t trust himself either) or to keep the colours at the places they belonged. He truly expected to look like a weird mixture between Granny Rags and one of the Golden Cat’s girls.

The outsider applied another soft powder to Corvo’s cheeks with a flick of his wrist and the Lord Protector twitched with a start when he felt warm breath on his face, the Outsider blowing softy over his skin before the brush returned. Another five minutes passed.

“It is done. Open your eyes, Corvo.” He did and blinked a few times. He felt weird, though it was more a psychic than a sensory thing, because he knew he was wearing makeup but certainly couldn’t feel it. Except maybe a kind of heavy feeling around his eyes, his lashes, the way blinking took just a little longer than usual.

The expression on the Outsider’s face was somewhere between hungry and satisfied, and it sent shivers down Corvo’s spine. He swallowed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in his own skin, while the Outside studied his face and maybe even the thoughts lying behind it. He saw the reflection of the fire’s light in those black eyes and hints of his own face, but it wasn’t clear enough by far to actually see what the deity had done to him.

“This is perfection.” he breathed and licked his lips slowly. Corvo’s eyes followed the movement and he felt his nervousness reaching a whole new level. He knew better than to move now, though, or else his movements would betray his agitation, and so he tried to keep breathing, slowly and steady. He also tried to keep his mind focused on this moment, this situation, just in case the Outsider did indeed read his mind and found any thoughts that were best kept behind closed doors somewhere in the deepest depths of his soul.

“Don’t you want to look…?” the Outsider chided softly and held out one pale hand. Taking it Corvo let himself being led to the mirror in his dressing room. He didn’t want to look, really, he had already made the decision to take one quick glance and tell the Outsider some praise without actual meaning, but he wasn’t preferred for what his reflection really showed him.

It was every bit as bad as he’d expected.


End file.
